


Of Gemlings and Pink Diamonds

by alltheshipping



Series: Y/S [2]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, Motherhood, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26714299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alltheshipping/pseuds/alltheshipping
Summary: There's a lot that has changed in the lives of Homeworld Gems, but their rulers are certainly the most affected by Steven's influence. Now that they no longer have control over their citizens, they have to find a new purpose in life.In the meantime, though, they can occupy their free time raising the palace's new acquisitions: Yellow Diamond and Spinel's gemlings.
Relationships: Spinel/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe)
Series: Y/S [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944127
Comments: 5
Kudos: 19





	1. Recognition

One would think that, after ruling an entire Empire, thanking care of a few gemlings wouldn't be an issue. Once upon a time, her job was precisely to monitor all of the armies at her disposal, so she had plenty of experience giving out orders and watching carefully how everything played out.

However, pretty much all of those abilities proved to be useless when dealing with her new daughters.

First and foremost, all of her subjects had been created with information already stored in their gems, so they at least knew the basics of what they had to do and how to accomplish it. These gemlings, on the other hand, appeared to lack that sort of thing. Perhaps it had to do with them technically being "impure", as they were born from two very different types of gems, but she hadn't been able to determine if that was the case just yet.

They also couldn't comprehend speech, or even walk properly at first. Even their powers were out of control, with the spinels stretching on accident and the little pink diamond making plants grow randomly around her.

Oh, that wasn't even going into the noise, or the amount of attention they appeared to need, or their annoying eating habits they developed. Once, the tourmaline wouldn't eat no matter what they tried to give her, and it had taken them hours to figure out she wanted the minerals to be crushed a little more. Why? Who knows- it's not like the child could explain their decisions.

However, even with that many downsides, she couldn't really say that she regretted keeping them. Especially when she saw just how happy they made her Spinel.

There was something... enrapturing about seeing her run around with the young ones in her arms, telling them jokes they couldn't yet understand and laughing to herself whenever one of tried to imitate her. It almost felt as though she had been made for this just as much as she had been made for entertaining.

It almost made Yellow self conscious. Who would've ever predicted that, after centuries of seeing diamonds as the most levelheaded and best equipped to deal with any sort of issue, they'd be beaten by a mere spinel when it came to raising gemlings?

A gem made to be a toy, surpassing in knowledge and maturity the ones made to be rulers. She couldn't think of a single thing that would be more humbling.

Of course, Steven insisted that all gems were equal, that everybody could be anything they wanted if they really thought about it hard enough. And, while she decided to go through with all the reforms he proposed in Homeworld, she still couldn't bring herself to truly believe that. The other gems were still below her, and would always be below her, at least in her eyes.

Spinel, though, almost seemed above her these days. Going around the palace like she owned the place. Deciding what their children would do, when they would do it and who would watch over them. Even giving direct orders, sometimes, expecting Yellow Diamond to follow them.

And she did follow them. Most of the time, she didn't even complain, because Spinel appeared to always know what was best, as far as the gemlings were concerned.

What was more interesting, they hadn't failed once under that system. She'd heard from the humans that Spinel probably just had a very strong maternal instinct, and that had to be true, because otherwise there wasn't a way to explain how she always seemed to know what was best for the little ones.

The part of her that still clung towards the old way things worked hated this. It hated having to be taught by someone so below her rank, instead of only being bossed around by White. It hated having to do something that she'd never been programmed to do, such as watching over gemlings. It hated exchanging kindergartens for this much less efficient and more time consuming way of reproduction.

Another part of her (one she herself hadn't even known about until recently), however, couldn't help but smile whenever one her new daughters crawled towards her. It wished to see them grow older, to know just how much they inherited from her and how much they inherited from Spinel. It longed for a future that would bring her authentic joy.

She wasn't sure if she'd ever see all gems as equal. Something in her insisted that that idea was so outlandish it just had to be a lie. So, for the time being, she'll maintain that view.

Spinel, however, she could no longer see as a mere servant or entertainer. And, if she of all people could surprise her in such a way... Well, who knows. Maybe there were other gems out there with unexplored talents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Remember when I said I'd continue my Yellow Diamond/Spinel fic all those months ago? Well, here is the continuation! I wasn't going to take this long to publish it but... Stuff happened. And no, I'm not talking about what you're thinking about. I'm talking about Steven Universe Future, and how I have EXTREMELY mixed feelings about it. But today I decided to stop being lazy and finish this WIP, so all those curious about the fic could read it. Hope you enjoy!


	2. External Pressure

As a mother, Spinel cares for all of her children to the same extent. As a member of the Gem Empire, however, she must admit there’s one child that worries her the most. Not because of anything the poor thing has done, but because of what her name meant to gemkind.  
Her sweet, innocent and adorable Pink Diamond, lovely nicknamed Pinky by Steven, who had helped her pick names for all of the gemlings before leaving to explore the world. He hadn’t come to visit in almost two years, since the babies had first been born, but she didn’t think it had to do with the fact that he didn’t have time. The real reason was obvious enough for anyone who paid attention.

Of course, she couldn’t exactly blame people for seeing her old master when they saw her daughter, given their similarities. They shared the same fuzzy hair, the same curious attitude, the same laugh whenever Spinel did something funny to entertain them. It was uncanny, to a certain extent.  
However, just because she could understand the discomfort at seeing the resemblance didn’t mean she approved of it. 

The differential treatment she got when compared to the others was noticeable even from a distance: The crystal gems loved playing with the gemlings most of the time, but seemed reluctant to spend as much time with Pinky. Pearl, especially, couldn’t bear to even see her on her worst days, and would stay back at the temple.  
The diamonds, on the other hand, preferred her over all the others. Blue would write lullabies just for her, and sing them whenever she looked the tiniest bit sad. White was always more open to affection when it came to her, easily hugging and holding her while the older ones simply got a pat on the head. And even Yellow, who should be impartial and treat all of her children equally, had taken a lot less time to warm up to Pinky compared to the others.  
She could understand missing Pink Diamond- she’d missed her for millennia, standing in place to wait for her to come back. But, the second she realized most people in the galaxy would treat her baby differently because of what someone else had done, she decided she wouldn’t be part of that.

So, from day one, she put all the effort possible into making sure nobody treated any of her children differently from the others, no matter what. If the gems wanted to take out their trauma on her daughters, they’d have to go through her first. 

And so, she started calling out the diamonds whenever they spent too much time with Pinky but didn’t pay attention to any of the others. She reminded the crystal gems that this wasn’t their Pink, and that she didn’t deserve any judgment in the place of their past leader. She made sure that no gem that would either criticize or venerate her kid was allowed in the palace.  
To the empire, the message was clear: she wouldn’t tolerate hate towards any of her gemlings. They could barely walk or talk- they didn’t deserve to be treated as more or less than anybody else.

However, even with all her effort, criticism couldn’t be fully stopped. The only way she could accomplish that would be to shatter or bubble any gem that dared to voice negative opinions, but she didn’t think anyone would agree to such extreme measures. So, for now, all she could do was try to keep her daughter away from those issues until she was old enough to understand them.  
It’d be easier if it was just a simple problem, a rumor or lie that was being spread and she could disprove without much trouble. But problems rarely came with easy solutions.

High-ranking gems, like agates and emeralds, loudly wished for the birth of this new diamond to be the return of the old caste system. They thought that it was only Pink Diamond’s disappearance that had caused problems and, now that a fourth ruler existed, things could go back to normal.  
Others insisted that, on the other hand, thought the new child would only bring forth new issues, just like the first one had. That she’d only be like a second Steven, signing about equality and other concepts they found deeply wrong.  
Some low-ranking gems, even, said they missed the good-old day, and couldn’t wait to have yet another master to serve. It was unnerving, how prepared they were to let someone who couldn’t even count yet control their own lives.

On the other hand, some crystal gems found the return of Pink Diamond to be a deeply painful thing, and worried that this child would be just like their deceased leader. How could they trust someone who looked like the gem that betrayed them, used them, and made them fight in a war that ended the lives of their comrades? If Rose Quartz hadn’t been trustworthy, then this kid wasn’t either.  
A select group, however, hailed her as the new savior. Rose made mistakes, sure, but ultimately she fought for freedom. She challenged the diamonds. She went farther than any gem before her, and her lies had only been to make sure the rebellion lasted as long as possible. Without her, they wouldn’t have anything they had now, and this young one would surely follow the same footsteps towards revolution, making life better for others.

Whether good or bad, all that pressure would crack any gem, especially such a small and fragile one like her daughter. And so, her only option for now was to keep those opinions outside, were the little one wouldn’t have to deal with them.  
And when she was older, well… She’ll eventually have to deal with them, in whatever way possible. Spinel just wished she could make the revelation that she’ll always be judged a little less painful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh yeah this chapter is kind of sad, sorry about that. I just wanted some angst. Maybe next chapter will be more fluffy.
> 
> Also, in case anyone asks about the line saying that some gem lives were lost in the war: I decided to retcon Future's whole "you can bring back gems after they're shattered!" thing. I thought it was cheap as fuck. Like, if you're going to write about war, then write about war. Don't chicken out and just go "actually all people were later brought back and the Cluster is going to be solved don't worry about it". It took the weight out of the entire series.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not entirely sure how many chapters I'm going to make of this fic, but I'm thinking about maybe two or three more. Show the gemlings all grow up, have some bonding, have other gems react to the new Pink Diamond... We'll see. You can leave suggestions if you have some (though I can't assure you I'll do all of them- depression has been kicking my creativity into the curb lately).


End file.
